Morphological and molecular analyses of season-specific responses of freshwater ciliate communities to top-down and bottom-up experimental manipulations

Result code in IS VaVaI

<a href="https://www.isvavai.cz/riv?ss=detail&h=RIV%2F60077344%3A_____%2F25%3A00647031" target="_blank" >RIV/60077344:_____/25:00647031 - isvavai.cz</a>

Alternative codes found

RIV/60076658:12310/25:43910325

Result on the web

<a href="https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00304-25" target="_blank" >https://doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00304-25</a>

DOI - Digital Object Identifier

<a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1128/msystems.00304-25" target="_blank" >10.1128/msystems.00304-25</a>

Result language

angličtina

Original language name

Morphological and molecular analyses of season-specific responses of freshwater ciliate communities to top-down and bottom-up experimental manipulations

Original language description

In aquatic microbial food webs, ciliates represent an important trophic link in the energy transfer from prokaryotes, algae, and heterotrophic nanoflagellates (HNFs) to higher trophic levels. However, the trophic role of abundant small ciliates (<20 <mu>m) is not clearly understood. To unveil their trophic linkages, we conducted two experiments manipulating both top-down and bottom-up controlling factors, thus modulating the trophic cascading and bacterial prey availability for protists during contrasting spring and summer seasons with samples collected from a freshwater meso-eutrophic reservoir. Water samples were size fractionated to modify food web complexity, i.e., 10 mu m, 20 mu m, and unfiltered control and amended with bacterial prey additions. The samples were analyzed by morphological and sequencing techniques. The bacterial amendments triggered strong ciliate growth following the peaks of HNFs in the 10 and 20 mu m treatments, reflecting a trophic cascading from HNFs to raptorial prostome ciliates (Balanion planctonicum and Urotricha spp.) in spring. In summer, HNFs and ciliates peaked simultaneously, suggesting the important trophic cascade also from bacteria to bacterivorous scuticociliates (Cyclidium glaucoma and Cinetochilum margaritaceum) and HNFs. In spring, unfiltered treatments showed stronger ciliate top-down control by zooplankton than in summer. The sequence analysis revealed season-specific manipulation-induced shifts in ciliate communities and their large cryptic diversity. However, morphological and molecular analyses also revealed considerable discrepancies in the abundance of major ciliate taxa. The ciliate communities responded to our experimental manipulations in season-specific fashions, thereby highlighting the different roles of ciliates as an intermediate trophic link between prokaryotes and higher trophic levels.

Czech name

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Czech description

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Type

J_imp - Article in a specialist periodical, which is included in the Web of Science database

CEP classification

—

OECD FORD branch

10617 - Marine biology, freshwater biology, limnology

Project

Result was created during the realization of more than one project. More information in the Projects tab.

Continuities

I - Institucionalni podpora na dlouhodoby koncepcni rozvoj vyzkumne organizace

Publication year

2025

Confidentiality

S - Úplné a pravdivé údaje o projektu nepodléhají ochraně podle zvláštních právních předpisů

Name of the periodical

mSystems

ISSN

2379-5077

e-ISSN

2379-5077

Volume of the periodical

10

Issue of the periodical within the volume

9

Country of publishing house

US - UNITED STATES

Number of pages

19

Pages from-to

e00304-25

UT code for WoS article

001551701600001

EID of the result in the Scopus database

2-s2.0-105016814781